Gains for the Plucking or for the PDCAing?

I led a great team of people last week to the discovery that – by setting targets and doing problem solving – they could increase their team capacity by about 80%. It was the equivalent of almost one person. The four man team could do this work with 3.2 people. What do you do with that? Is that a real gain or is it a promise of one?

They have a lot of work to do to realize the gain, so it’s mostly the promise of one.

We briefed their leadership team and shared the news.

I watched each executive scribble on their pads when we came to the increased capacity…hmmm. I wonder what piqued their interest? What would you be thinking? Some of you would be thinking, “Lets ‘can’ someone and try it with three!” Others would be thinking, “What can I add to the team to grab that 80%?”

Here is what I’m thinking: PDCA

The plan is to achieve certain queueing targets. If they keep the backlog below a certain number, their lead time goes down. If not, it doesn’t. That’s the plan. Let them do it and see what kinds of problems they unearth. That’s the check. Find the root causes, remove them, cycle around again. That’s the analyze, act and adjust.

Let them cycle – with a teacher/coach – and watch them beat their target.